


I Fight Evil In a Skirt

by CardboarianNights



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gabriel fights in a magical girl uniform but there's no fetishization of magical girls in here, Jesse is in his thirties and gabe is in his forties, M/M, becoming the hero, borrows the city naming and hero ranking system from One Punch Man but that's basically it, both are interested in the other from the beginning, everything else is original, fluff and super heroes, in terms of content borrowing, magical holy shotguns and tactics, mentor and apprentice relationship, mutual pinning', neither denies it, not your typical kind of mentor/apprentice relationship, pinning at first sight, slow burn in that McCree is fine with the pace Gabriel's sets for them, super hero AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-10-16 01:54:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10561420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CardboarianNights/pseuds/CardboarianNights
Summary: “You.”Jesse froze up as he heard the dark rumble of the man under the gorgeous outfit, regardless of how disturbing his mask was by contrast. He wanted to touch the stranger’s muscles that fit his body wonderfully, and also noted how the skirt bottom was barely long enough to cover his mid thigh, over the garters.“My eyes are not on my thighs.”“And what a nice pair of thighs ya have, Darlin’.” Jesse grinned in amusement before feeling a dangerously sharp talon force him to crane his head (and gaze) upwards into the black void of the eye holes on the man’s mask. “That wasn’t an insult, by the way.” He quickly added, more charmed by the danger than fearful.“Down, Boy. I need to know how you made that shot earlier.” The mysterious hero in a maid outfit demanded smoothly, flicking Jesse’s chin up oh-so-gently, possibly trying to get a better look at him?“You think that shot is impressive? Wait till you see me with a bottle of tequila, Sweetheart.” Jesse playfully smirked.





	1. nice thighs

**Author's Note:**

> The adorable superhero, mentor/apprentice, 'let's work our way up to boyfriend status slowly' fic that I've slowly been working on for a while now. I wonder what kind of hero Jesse McCree will end up as!
> 
> Warning: There's a small scene when they're at the bar talking about a flesh monster attack and Jesse briefly talks about the aftermath of the fight. It's not super descriptive but if you want to skip that little bit then it's fine since the only words I use are 'blood' and 'gore'. There's no description of organs getting thrown around, in case that makes you queasy!
> 
> Yes, Reaper's outfit is based on the black variation of his 'maid' MMD character design. 
> 
> You can see it here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWdtCpdETaU

“Now I’ve seen everythin’.” Thirty year old Jesse McCree drawled in amazement as he watched a muscular man in a black gothic maid outfit utterly trash a giant robot that tried to destroy the city he lived in - The man casting aside the two white shotguns he used and Jesse felt himself gasp in amazement as they dissolved in holy white light.

The maid outfit had a hood on it and a bone white mask obscuring the fella’s face but McCree’s eyes certainly weren’t on that as he watched the beautiful specimen jump off the top of the twisted metal below his boots and land on the sidewalk next to him, giving Jesse quite the sight of his thick thighs. Did he mention that the man’s legs were blessed with a garter belt and black thigh highs combo over his rippling calves? Because Jesse couldn’t help but stare as he stood back up to his full height, matching coming eye to eye with him and swallowed hard as his heart raced in his chest. He even had an over sized ribbon in the back and everything!

“You.”

Jesse froze up as he heard the dark rumble of the man under the gorgeous outfit, regardless of how disturbing his mask was by contrast. He wanted to touch the stranger’s muscles that fit his body wonderfully, and also noted how the skirt bottom was barely long enough to cover his mid thigh, over the garters.

“My eyes are not on my thighs.”

“And what a nice pair of thighs ya have, Darlin’.” Jesse grinned in amusement before feeling a dangerously sharp talon force him to crane his head (and gaze) upwards into the black void of the eye holes on the man’s mask. “That wasn’t an insult, by the way.” He quickly added, more charmed by the danger than fearful.

“Down, Boy. I need to know how you made that shot earlier.” The mysterious hero in a maid outfit demanded smoothly, flicking Jesse’s chin up oh-so-gently, possibly trying to get a better look at him?

“You think that shot is impressive? Wait till you see me with a bottle of tequila, Sweetheart.” Jesse playfully smirked.

There was a solid minute of silence between them before the masked man spoke up again.

“I have to go to a bar with you to get my answer?” He asked incredulously, borderline disgusted as Jesse threw his head back and laughed.

“No, no, Partner!” Jesse then drew Peacekeeper out of the holster he kept on his belt and spun it around on his finger before catching the handle firmly. “Always had a good eye since I was a kid with a bb gun! Was no trouble shooting out one of the bot’s eyes to help ya take it down. Kind of got personal with it attacking so close to my favorite bar and a man has to have his priorities straight.” He chuckled before sheathing Peacekeeper back into its holster and pulling the security strap over it to make it harder for someone to try to pick it off him.

“You… assisted a hero because a robot was attacking near your favorite bar…?” 

Jesse snickered in amusement. “Well, the bar wouldn’t be here if the bot actually attacked it, right? Anyways, how bout we go inside said bar to make sure everything is peachy. Part of a hero’s job is to make sure civilians stay safe, ain’t it?” This was a VERY long shot but he did manage to get lucky enough to nail a bad guy in the eye to help out the good guy, right? He wouldn’t complain if mr. mystery turned on those lovely heeled boots of his to leave but maybe… bust maybe...

“Fine.” 

Jesse was amazed by how quickly he agreed to it and almost felt his jaw drop right out of his mouth.

The fire and emergency teams were showing up along with the police, news copters in the air but the hero was more interested in him than getting points for doing an interview apparently. The intersection was totally trashed along with several heavily damaged buildings surrounding the fight zone and he could understanding the man following him rather than being singled out as contributing to the damage if the media spun the story in a negative light. That wasn’t unheard of either but he figured the man would want to play it safe when there was this much damage involved as they both headed down the street together. Several aspects of the man’s costume vanished as they turned the corner, most notably were the heavy gauntlets that were replace with simple, leather, fingerless gloves and his heavy metal-toed boots being replaced with lovely leather ones with two-inch high heels.

They entered the nearly empty bar since everyone else was on the street gawking at the pile of scrap metal that used to be a twenty foot tall berserk robot along with the property damage done to the area. The bartender didn’t seem interested at all as she cleaned glasses, ignoring the several TVs playing footage of the battle from shitty security cameras facing the street above the bar, Mr. Mystery showing up several times in the footage as he fought the robot. Jesse and the man took a seat at the bar counter, the man groaning as he stretched his arms behind the back of his head.

“Heh. Gotta be rough being a hero runnin’ ‘round in a skirt, Partner.” Jesse drawled in amusement as the bartender walked over to them. “Ey, Ana! Not going outside today to see the carnage?” 

The older woman sighed heavily before placing a clean glass on the counter. “McCree. I’ve lived in this city for far longer than you have been alive. It’s considered bad luck to go out and view the destruction as a business owner.” She spoke before turning around to grab a bottle of tequila off the display before considering the man next to McCree with a smile. “A hero, huh? Never seen you before in here but welcome to my bar. Thank you for your hard work in keeping our city safe.” 

“Well, that’s a first.” The hero grumbled, a hint of bitterness in his voice. “What gave away that I’m a hero and not a cosplayer?”

Jesse thought about that comparison and looked over at Ana curiously. It was understandable that heroes with unusual costumes could easily be confused with cosplayers if they weren’t showing off their impressive powers. Jesse saw the guy in combat himself and he had to admit that the outfit reminded him of magical girl heroes but so much more badass with with shotguns. The magical girl Homora might be the closest comparison but Jesse wasn’t interested in the Japanese hero circuit like some weirdos, and heroes who used guns outside of the USA were quite rare which was the only reason he heard about Homora in the first place. 

“Ah. Well, it’s not the first time Jesse brought in a hero as a drinking buddy and he doesn’t usually hang out with the dress up crowd.” Ana commented with a smile, making Jesse grumble in annoyance.

“Come on now. Someone had to give that poor lady something to drink after dealing with a giant flesh monster. I needed a drink too to forget that shit. Urgh!” Jesse shuddered as he hugged himself, not wanting to remember that horrible monster attack on F-City two years ago. “Please hit me up, Ana. I ain’t gonna last if I remember anymore of that fight!” He whined softly as Ana twisted off the top of the golden bottle and began pouring it into a shot glass before setting it down in front of Jesse.

“You mean the ‘MinOstroni’ attack from two years ago?” The hero asked curiously before Ana looked over at him expectantly. “Just a hard lemonade with a straw. I have a business to go back to running after I’m done here.” He remarked casually as she raised a brow at his order.

Oh? He was a business owner and a part-time hero as well? Jesse found himself more interested in the mysterious hero as Ana went to go make his drink. Maybe he was a lower-tiered hero who couldn’t afford to go full-time? There were many heroes like that in F-City since monster acts were rather spread out and some heroes couldn’t use their powers on human criminals because they were more specialized to fight monsters. Heroes couldn’t pick and choose their powers unless they were cyborgs or something like that but those heroes usually lived around more technically advanced cities like T-City or S-City. Giant monsters just seemed to like to attack F-City since they had wider streets or something so those kinds of anti-monster heroes lived here.

“Wait, the monster’s name was ‘MinOstroni’? Why the capital ‘O’? Is it suppose to be silent?” Jesse asked as he scratched at his beard before taking his first shot, enjoying the burn going down his throat while the hero next to hummed in thought.

“All registered heroes in F-City have access to the autopsy reports for all monster-related invasions since our groups here are much tighter knit than more competitive cities, ironically enough. It probably has to do with cooperation takedowns against giant monsters dishing out higher point credits so the monsters will go down much more faster and reduce property damage to the city rather than heroes waiting on the sideline for the attacking hero to get worn out or be killed before jumping in to take on a hypothetically weaker monster. ‘MinOstroni’ is the name the rogue scientist named the creation before the Hero League detained him after the biological materials, made heavily of wheat for some fucking reason, lead the investigators to the man, who was of Italian descent.” He explained as Ana set his drink in front of him and thanked her before picking it up to drink the concoction through the mouth hole in his mask with the straw.

Jesse looked at the hero with a deflated look at his explanation. “Wait. What?! That fuckin’ thing was a genuine flesh monster! Blood and guts hanging off every surface and railing once I saw the heroes take it down! Yer tellin’ me that it was all WHEAT-based?!”

The hero placed his glass down on the counter and nodded his head. “Rather ingenious that the scientist managed to pull off something absolutely insane and dangerous from wheat, but, yes, it was twenty percent wheat-based and the other eighty percent was human and animal genetic material.”

Ana was leaning forward on the counter, elbows on the wood to prop up her chin as she listened just as eagerly as Jesse to the hero’s explanation and watched as he pulled out an official ‘CommuniGate’ device that the Hero League gave out to all official heroes. They both gasped in amazement at seeing the thin, rectangular device, and watched as the hero typed into the search bar of a special subsection of the Hero League database labeled ‘F-C’ to pull up the autopsy report on ‘MinOstroni’ before he turned on the hologram function so they both had a holographic window in front of them to scroll through.

“This subsection is uniquely for resident heroes of F-City and only features breakdowns of monsters that attack our city that are at least, at minimum, ten feet in height or ten feet in length/width, since sharing this kind of data can allow for heroes and police precincts to work together to track down the masterminds who create these hostile beings. Generally, anything over 10 x 10 x 10 feet is usually created in laboratories by your usual mad scientist or was a worker robot in a factory that went rogue. Of course, it’s still illegal to kill a ‘monster’ since they are allowed to live with us, but they usually never get that tall or even want to cause trouble on that kind of a destructive scale, like any other citizen of F-City. Please do not think we exterminate monsters because they exist and because these data bases exist.” He added at the end, making sure to firmly tell them what should be obvious since monsterphobia was still rampant amongst cities that allowed monsters to reside in them, F-City being one of them.

“I understand the delicate position you monster-hunter heroes have in our community, Hero.” Ana spoke up warmly as she continued to scroll slowly through the hologram. “Even the ones that visit my bar speak kindly of F-City’s hero population in comparison to other less understanding cities.”

The hero sighed in relief, making it obvious that he probably wasn’t suppose to be sharing the information but wanted to enlighten them regardless. It made Jesse that much more fond of the mysterious man since heroes rarely ever went into this kind of detail to explain things to civilians.

“So, what’s yer hero name, Partner? My name’s Jesse McCree and this fine provisioner of alcohol is Ana Amari.” Jesse gestured from himself to Ana as she smiled warmly at the introduction to the hero.

“My name is ‘Death Blossom’, C-Rank hero, specialty is ‘Area Denial’.” He introduced himself, reaching into his skirt pocket to produce two white business cards and sliding one to each of them.

Jesse took the card and saw that it was indeed an official hero’s business card with the Hero League’s seal, a hero registration number, an emergency contact number for his CommuniGate device, his hero name, and a cute little black beanbag character in the corner that had a white mask on it like he did. Normally heroes only gave out their cards to members of the press that interviewed them (Usually to verify that they were official heroes with the League), police precincts that wanted to work with them, or civilians the hero saved that ended up in the hospital so they could call the hero, especially children. This was a huge honor to be given a card by a hero, regardless of their rank and popularity, and could also land you in jail if you tried to do something like sell the CommuniGate number of a popular hero since each number generated on each card to call the CommuniGate was unique and traceable. Heroes were very big on privacy and so the laws were their to protect them and prevent misuse of the CommuniGate devices, kind of like when you crank call 911 and other emergency services like that.

“‘Death Blossom’, huh?” Jesse smiled happily as he heard the name and gave the man a look over from top to bottom. “It’s very fitting, especially since I saw the way you gracefully fought that robot.”

Ana whistled impressively at that. “Oh? That sounds like a fun story to hear.” She grinned mischievously at Jesse in a knowing manner. “Spill the details, McCree.”

Jesse chuckled sheepishly as he felt Death Blossom’s gaze turn to him and felt his cheeks warm up. “W-We’ll… I mostly caught the end of the fight but I guess I can give my account of it really quick!” He offered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

\--

-Recount-

 

The loud sound of glass shattering and the grocery store shaking was what drove Jesse and the rest of the afternoon shoppers out of the building into the small parking lot. The ground was vibrating violently with each thunderous boom maybe a city block or two over. The screeching of steel followed by the sound of several loud gunshots was what compelled Jesse to run with his fours bags of groceries (two in each hand) as the emergency broadcast signal urged residents to evacuate and head for the reinforced underground shelters that were built to withstand giant monster attacks.

Of course, Jesse ignored the warnings and ran through stalled traffic in the busy streets as pedestrians fled from the buildings and their cars to get to safety. The ground shook more violently the closer he got to the source of the noise, nearly getting knocked off his feet several times by the stampeding evacuees and the shockwaves. 

He was excited! What monster could be attacking after a three week lull in activity on this scale?! Would any S-Rank heroes show up to the scene to fight the monster?! Will he get a decent spot with all the other monster-watchers crowding the impromptu arena? He had plenty of snacks and drinks for a good show, that’s for sure!

Jesse turned the corner and sure enough there was three heroes fighting a giant robot. There was a crowd over by one of the ‘safe’ zones, a flexible word choice in the monster-watcher community that changed depending on what the monster was, if it could it shoot projectiles/elements, how many appendages it had, where its back currently was, and its overall height including its appendage length. The goal was to establish a relatively safe viewing distance of the fight and reduce the chance for injuries and death on the ground but was no way officially recognized by any sane group that didn’t want to be sued to hell and back by the families of people who died watching the fights. Jesse ran over to the closest watcher, a woman with her younger son, both who were happily cheering on the heroes.

“Hey! What’s the Safe Zone for this fight!” Jesse asked, grabbing the woman’s attention for a second.

“Safe Zone Admin says it’s about a Three with the robot being an estimated twenty feet!” She yelled over the roar of the enthusiastic crowd and the heroes battling the robot two blocks away.

The ‘Safe Zone Admin’ wasn’t one person but a collective anonymous group of enthusiasts on an F-City messenger board who came up with the ‘Safe Zone’ radius calculations for viewings and each number on the scale indicated how far away a viewer should be at any time in relation to the monster’s GPS movement. Why the police or Hero League never manages to pin down the leaders of the board is anyone’s guess but some theorize that the very quick updates, once a sighting has been verified and the emergency broadcasting announcement released, to establish a Safe Zone meant that the group probably has access to security cameras or top of the line satellite tracking equipment. Jesse was on board with the theory that the Hero League was actually the ones running the show along with the police but he wasn’t any more privy to info on the group than anyone else was. 

“Wait! This is a two block distance to the fight! We need to move back another block!” Jesse yelled as the woman constantly looked back at him and at the limited view they could see of the fight between the buildings in the distance.

“It’s hard enough to see the fight with the central bank being in the way as it is and the route 66 bridge is probably packed to capacity with watchers!” She yelled in response. A reminder of how illegal and popular the viewings were since the police will arrest people for blatantly ignoring the emergency broadcast if a nearby shelter was not at capacity and they were clearly standing around idle instead of fleeing. Some of the police were a bit more lenient if people were following the ‘Safe Zone’ radius but that won’t stop them from arresting you or act as a decent defense in court.

“Yeah, but, you ain’t gonna outrun the bank when it falls over with a kid in yer arms, Lady!” He countered, earning an annoyed glare from the woman and child together.

“Fine, you make a good point about the bank.” She then turned to the group as she held up her amp square, a small-handled device that police officers received that was much more portable and clear than a megaphone. “Hey! We’re moving to the corner across the street for building protocol! Please follow!” She clicked off the device as the group of twenty people immediately followed her and Jesse across the six-laned intersection filled with abandoned cars. It was generally accepted in the monster-watcher community to follow any instructions given if a fellow viewer felt that the group’s safety was at risk, something Jesse was glad for as they moved to the safer corner of the street.

With the group safer for the moment Jesse glanced four blocks down where Ana Amari’s bar was, pulling out his retractable binoculars for monster-watching to look down a couple of block at the Safe Zone group established near her bar. The binoculars weren’t that powerful to let him see the group eight blocks away and the monster had to be at least two blocks adjacent to where the fight was taking place. He quickly swapped out his binoculars for his phone, glancing up every few seconds to make sure the others in the group near him didn’t pull away as he shot her a quick message.

McCree: Monster is two blocks in front of the bar, you in a Safe Zone?

Ana replied merely moments afterwards.

Amari: Shit! You serious that it’s that close?! I’m down in the Mantle St. shelter!

Mantle street was a good two blocks away from the bar so at least she would be safe in the reinforced shelter. She was probably texting Fareeha since she was a B-Rank hero here and would have heard the news by now. Hopefully the heroes fighting the robot would be able to take it down and make it fall to the road that was built to take that kind of damage, rather than it falling and taking out several buildings. He fucking loved Ana Amari and her bar but he doubted she would be able to stay open or even afford renovation with insurance covering most of the costs if it took considerable damage in the fight.

-

“Okay, before you go any farther, I’m going to have to cut you off there to speed this up a bit.” Death Blossom spoke up as he set down his now-empty glass of hard lemonade. Jesse scowled at him for interrupting his story telling but relaxed as he remembered that he probably had to go back to his business sooner than later.

“Anyways, so, Misteel Blue, Soldier Seventy-Six, and I were fighting the robot, doing a decent job of wearing its shell down while keeping the bot in the middle of the street so its arms wouldn’t hit the buildings so much. The bot was giving us trouble since it had insane reflexes whenever any of us tried to hit its exposed core or even try to take out its eyes.” He explained as he moved his arms quickly to reenact the blocks the robot made to deflect the shots. “We were in the middle of making plans to counteract its arms through our CommLink units when all of a sudden one of the bot’s eyes got blown to bits. Throwing the asshole perfectly off balance like we wanted and allowed us to move in for the kill, completely breaking it down to scrap once Soldier shot a helix rocket into the core.”

“The others assumed it was Widowmaker who pulled off the shot but I happened to spot someone from down below, on the street-level who could have made the shot while the others left the scene. Widow enjoys taunting us for being incapable if she is forced to take part so I figured someone else might be responsible for the shot instead of her and lo and behold - I spot a lone cowboy with a six-shooter staring up at me from the rubble.” Death Blossom pointed a finger in McCree’s direction and Jesse felt his face heat up from the sudden attention focusing on him. “How the hell did you make that kind of shot? Was it a fluke? A hidden power?”

“Uh. Umm…! It’s a power I like to call ‘Deadeye’. I can hit anything I want at any distance as long as I maintain sight on it and use ol’ Peacekeeper here to deliver the blow!” Jesse explained the best he could and grew more bashful the closer Death Blossom leaned in to observe him. 

“You have a power like that and never applied to become a hero?” Death Blossom asked, perplexed at the idea that he was talking to a normal person and not a certified hero, most likely.

“I tried! Several times, actually! The Hero League always said that having one high accuracy skill wasn’t enough to-”

“Fuck that. ‘Jesse McCree’, right? We are the league of fucking one-trick ponies here and I’m certainly not going to brush you off like you’re useless for only having one talent. You shaved off time to take down a giant robot and that's a skill we desperately need in a place like F-City.” Death Blossom spoke firmly to him.

Jesse felt his heart start to race. His long dead dream of ever becoming a hero wasn’t as dead as he originally thought? He might have a chance?!

Death Blossom took back the business card he gave McCree earlier since it was still laying out on the counter and quickly grabbed a pen laying out to write down something on the the back of the card to before handing it back. He then stood up, shut off his CommuniGate and then tucked it back into the holder on his upper arm before setting five credit coins on the counter to pay for his drink.

“If you’re interested in being a part-time apprentice to a part-time hero then give me a call, my personal number is on the back. It was nice to have a breather after a fight but I have to get back to work.” Death Blossom spoke as he waved goodbye to them, leaving Jesse practically on cloud nine as he watch the skirted hero walk out of the bar.


	2. Physical Demands (and pains)

Jesse relaxed as he took a seat at his new master’s desk a few days after he got the nerve to contact Death Blossom and tell him of his interest in becoming his part-time apprentice. Finding out that Death Blossom was actually Gabriel Reyes, owner of a huge modeling company for men, was a huge surprise for a part-time trucker like McCree, and even moreso that this was actually real and not a dream.

Gabriel wore a nice red button up with a black vest and pants that probably cost two years worth of Jesse’s salary to afford much less on top of the designer shoes the guy wore. He had a smooth looking under cut and a head of short, black, curly hair along with a very handsome face. The guy couldn't be more than ten years older than him at least as he leaned over next to him and helped Jesse work on his apprenticeship application to submit to the Hero League. The damn thing was taking all fucking day from how extensive the whole application process was.

“How many years has it been since your last full physical?” Gabriel asked as Jesse tried to understand the weird wording of one of the questions.

“What’s ‘full’ suppose to mean? If it’s getting yer weight taken and given any immunizations then I went sometime in summer of last year.”

Gabriel stood up fully and tapped the CommuniGate out of idle mode on his arm to start typing away on a holoscreen that appeared before him. “Alright, then. We’ll have to schedule a physical evaluation with a hero specialist sometime next week. What days are you free? I can go Monday or Thursday with you.” He spoke as he flicked open a calendar program and Jesse felt his jaw drop with how many fucking bookings Gabriel had throughout the week from what he could see.

“W-wait. Why do ya gotta go with me? If it’s a doctor’s appointment then all you gotta tell me is where to go and what tests I need, right?” Jesse asked, not wanting to trouble Gabriel on his days off.

“The eval doctors aren’t particularly nice to people who aren’t heroes and you aren’t even an apprentice until we submit both of our applications with your eval physical data entered, then get THAT approved. I just assumed you went to the eval docs before you attempted to do the hero examination, is all.” Gabriel explained casually. “They won’t be such huge assholes if I come with and I need to get an examination myself anyways.”

“Well, Monday would be fine fer me. Should we skip this section for now?” Jesse asked as he referred to the screen in front of him while Gabriel added the event to his schedule for Monday and took his personal phone out of his pocket. 

“Yes, be sure to highlight to mark it as ‘reminder’ and hit ‘save’ before moving on. I’m going to call and schedule an appointment for us both in the meantime.” Gabriel walked away from the desk and flicked his finger over the hologram to pull up a phone book as he went over to the huge window the overlooked the city streets below. Jesse turned his head back to his application and scowled at it in annoyance.

Was he suppose to get that evaluation physical before? Reyes made it seem like it was something everyone did if they wanted to be a hero but he always went straight to the interview stage. He moved on like he was told and frowned as another financial question came up but this time about his credit history. Why the fuck did they need to know everything single fucking thing about him? Not even job applications were this annoying!

“Type in ‘Approved by mentor DBGR’.” Gabriel spoke to him as he was right behind him once more, covering the bottom of the phone so the person he was talking to wouldn’t hear him speak before putting the phone back to his ear. “Yeah? You can get us both in on Monday then?” He easily went back to his conversation and paced back to the window as Jesse typed in what Gabriel instructed.

Most of his financial and criminal background questions were being answered with that statement, Reyes trusting Jesse to not screw over his reputation if he was asking the League to overlook his past. It seemed like the longer he was around the guy the more things he came to admire him for. Reyes didn’t even ask him for his background or anything, just wanted to take him under his wing as soon as possible.

“Thanks again. Bye.” Reyes hung up and tucked his phone back into his pocket as he walked back over and rested his hip against his desk as he watched Jesse fill in more questions.  
“Got both of us in at 11am on Monday. You think you can get here around 10am? I’ll have a taxi come pick us up then.” He then blinked for a moment before digging out his wallet from his other pocket and started sifting through some credit bills. “How did you get here anyways? You didn’t pay for underground parking, right?”

Now Jesse was looking over at him in mild amusement. “Told the attendant that I was here to see you and he told me to park my motorbike next to all the Lamborghinis and BMWs by the elevator. I guess no one has tried to use your name to get prime parking before at this tower?”

Gabriel grinned as he flipped his wallet shut and tucked it back into his pants. “I thought it was strange how I didn’t get a call asking about you from reception and then see you walking into my office like you owned the place. You certainly have balls and charm, McCree.” He folded his arms over his chest in a relaxed manner. 

Jesse was ecstatic for the compliments from his mentor and was glad that the man could recognize his attitude for confidence rather than cockiness like everyone else assumed. He might not be a billionaire but Gabriel Reyes just might be Batman to his Nightwin- No, wait, he doesn’t want to be a Robin! His mentor was too hot to just let him be a father figure to him! Who doesn’t want a rich, hot boyfriend like Gabriel Reyes anyways?

“McCree? You there?” Gabriel asked as he waved a hand in front of Jesse’s face, snapping him out a private vacation for two in the tropics and Reyes in a speedo.

“Uh. Yeah! Just wonderin’ why they thought about putting in a question about how to make a cake for a hero’s apprenticeship application! I didn’t even have more than ten questions to fill out in my regular hero application, is all, and this has to be about one thousand questions too many.” He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

“That’s because the League rarely ever rejects apprenticeship applications paired with a mentor’s and they don’t want to dilute the League’s image by having every hero take up an apprentice when people should be looking to become a hero in their own right. What we’re doing is what the apprenticeship program was made for - getting outliers like you into the League when the conventional way fails otherwise by getting a hero to vouch for you. It was how the B-Rank Soldier Seventy-Six got into the League as well.” Gabriel explained as gestured to a photo on his desk that showed him in costume with Seventy-Six, and Crusader, posing together with the man’s giant hammer, a giant banner behind them that said ‘congratulations’. 

“Oh, right. You and Soldier Seventy-Six were partners at one time.” Jesse remarked absentmindedly.

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. “He’s a hero in his own right now but it doesn’t mean the team-ups stop once you stop being mentor and apprentice.” He reassured Jesse as he placed a hand on his shoulder, making Jesse’s cheeks warm at that.

“Can mentor and apprentice have some fun on the side in their costumes?” Jesse playfully asked as he gave Gabriel a suggestive wink and Gabriel smirked in amusement.

“You need to earn your costume first, McCree. Though I certainly wouldn’t say ‘no’ to going out for dinner or drinks from time to time. I’m not looking for a father-son relationship with a guy who's four years younger than me.” He chuckled as he patted Jesse’s shoulder, making the cowboy smile in excitement before they both got back to work on filling out the application.

\--

“Okay. Why are we driving on the interstate after that shitty four hour examination?” Jesse huffed as Gabriel and himself sat in the back seat of the car, Gabriel's personal driver taking over since it was too much for Death Blossom to sit still in the driver's seat.

“Urgh. Shut up, McCree. At least you don't have to sit on cold packs for a week because you had glamor injected straight into your ass.” Gabriel groaned as he shifted on said cold packs. There was a whole box of them in the trunk and McCree was starting to finally figure out how rough it was to be a hero, even if his examination wasn’t that brutal.

“Why the hell do they inject magic into your ass anyways? Is that why your leg game is so top notch?” Jesse groaned as he pressed his forehead against the window with a cold pack dulling the horrible headache he had from the medicine he was forced to swallow.

“There’s a fucking reason no one is ever able to get a panty shot on a superhero in a skirt and this is how I keep my image intact. A little bit of pain for a week is worth it for not having to deal with my panty shots getting leaked to the press or Internet.” Gabriel countered.

Jesse blinked at that as he remembered the weird websites that dedicated themselves to drawing ‘plausible’ panties on skirted superheros when he wanted to see what lewd content the internet had on Death Blossom. The answer was ‘not a lot’ or ‘not in a language he could understand properly’ - most were hosted on Korean Twitter accounts though so maybe Hana would help him out? “Okay. I get that but why are we driving several hours away from home, Gabe?”

“Your hero aptitude evaluation. You want an idea of what your ‘hero’ attributes are, right?” Gabriel asked as he shifted on the cold pack again, instantly getting Jesse’s attention as he snaps his head almost comedically in his direction, the cold pack still stuck to the window where he was leaning on for the past hour.

“WE’RE GOIN’ TO VISIT THE ORACLE?!” Jesse practically yelled in excitement before quickly clutching his head in agony. “Fuck…!”

“What makes you think I have enough money to be able to take you to see someone like the Oracle, Jesse?” Gabriel asked as he looked over at him incredulously. 

“H-how expensive is it?” Jesse asks.

“Seeking audience with a Mayan god who can give you an incredibly accurate timeline of your life and career as a hero plus awaken all of your hidden potential at once? Let’s just say the United States alone would not be able to afford one session even at the height of its economic power in history. Meeting with the Oracle is basically associated with a doomsday scenario, Jesse.” Gabriel explained mildly.

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, but, we have something that works decently for figuring out hero attributes that is significantly cheaper.” Gabriel spoke as the driver pulled off the interstate and into the parking lot of a highway oasis.

Jesse looked blankly out the window as the car came to a stop in the parking lot and watched as Gabriel groaned after the driver came out to open Gabriel’s door. His mentor carried the cold pack out with him and Jesse figured he needed a piss break up until the driver came over to open his door, Gabriel standing around instead of going in by himself. “We takin’ a lunch break?”

“No, Sir. This is your stop.” The driver spoke politely as he motioned for Jesse to step out of the car and then took the cold pack off the window before shutting the door.

Jesse moved around the car with his disposable cold pack in hand as Gabriel and him walked over to one of the trash cans to toss their used cold packs in before he followed his mentor into the building. The building was busy as people went to the several lines for fast food and a cheesy gift shop on the opposite side where the was old fashioned arcade cabinets on the opposite side of the shop glass for rowdy kids to hang out while their parents finished eating their meals. He was a bit confused about what they would find here, unless they were meeting with someone else, until gabriel came to a halt in front of one of those old ‘love’ scales that measured your weight and grip to rate you as a lover- a relic of the diesel-era that these oasis never got rid off.

“Okay. Shoes off and step up onto the scale. Place your hands on the- Hold on a moment.” Gabriel held his index finger up before Jesse could move, reaching into his pocket to pull out a packet that had a fresh hand wipe inside of it. He ripped it open and pulled out the soaked paper, unfolding it before wiping down the handles that Jesse would have to grip. “Okay, shoes off, step on the scale then grip the handlebars - first the left one and then grip the one on the right.”

Jesse nodded his head and toed his tennis shoes off, the bottom of his feet enjoying the feel of cool tile under his feet from the socks he wore over them before stepping up and onto the scale. He then gripped the pressure handlebars, left one first then gripping the right, and waited as he held the handlebars firmly. The ancient interface of the screen continued to blink ‘please insert credits’ repeatedly for several moments. “Erm. Do we gotta feed the machine first, Gabe?”

Gabriel was leaning against the wall next to the machine, idly scrolling through his phone as travelers gave them odd looks while passing them to get to the bathroom. “No, It’s free.” He informed Jesse, never once looking up from his phone. “Just stand there and keep your hands on the bars and your feet firmly on the scale without leaning for twenty minutes. I suggest you keep your grip light or you’re going to have to start all over if an error comes up on the screen. I had to do mine maybe three times? Shit sucked.” He remarked in annoyance.

“T-twenty minutes of standing on this thing and gripping the handles?!” Jesse practically wheezed.

“I disinfected the handles for you. My friends never did that for me.” Gabriel shrugged. “I’ll keep you entertained, if you want.”

“Can you get me a box of fries then? Maybe feed me one for every minute that passes?” Jesse asked as he loosened his grip a bit.

“Sure.” Gabriel pushed his back off the wall, groaning suddenly as his ass likely didn’t like the movement but impressively resisted the urge to rub at it. Jesse knew he would have done it if he was in Gabriel’s position, fuck the on-lookers. Hell, he probably would rub Gabriel’s ass if the guy asked him. Gabriel came back a few minutes later, a box of fries in his hand, and resumed his spot with his back to the wall as he plucked out a fry to hold out for Jesse to take.

“Thanks, Gabe. You really are an angel.” Jesse sighed happily in relief as he lightly bit on the end of the fry and pulled it into his mouth. He munched on the fry and looked at Gabriel with a smile as his mentor pulled out the next fry.

“Just trying to make the on-boarding process as easy as possible, McCree. Once we actually get to the point where you and I are patrolling the streets on our off-days then the real difficulty spike happens.” Gabriel informs him as he pops another fry into Jesse’s mouth. “The shit you have to go through is the equivalent of college sports teams hazing newcomers. You’re skipping about five steps that ‘old school’ heroes would have put you through just to get to this step.”

Jesse noticed how bitter Gabriel sounded about that and was grateful that Gabe really was a hero for the sake of mankind rather than one of personal gain or profit. Though Jesse did have to admit that he had a huge flow of merchandise over in Asia; mostly in Japan and Korea. He might have even ordered a very beautiful figure sculpt of Death Blossom that would arrive at his apartment within the next week or so - not that Gabriel needed to know about that.

A sudden buzz from the machine, caught both of their attention, and the screen changed from repeating ‘please insert change’ to ‘Welcome Agent! Printing out your attributes now!’ as a thick card stock was pushed up from a hidden slot between the handles that Gabriel pulled out as another came out right after. There were seven cards in total that printed out, Gabriel not even looking at them until the seventh one popped out, and only then did he say anything. “Get your shoes, McCree. You can go use the bathroom or just wash your hands if you want but I’m gonna get a burger.” He remarked as he thumbed the line of restaurants behind him.

“Sure! You think I could have one of what yer havin’?” Jesse asked as he took his hands off the handles and pulled out his wallet, passing Gabriel a solid ten credit bill that Gabriel took with an amused smile. He then pulled his shoes back on and went into the bathroom to take a leak, making sure to scrub his hands down good before drying them off.

Gabriel was sitting at a table with a tray with two burgers, two drinks, and one new set of fries next to the box Gabriel was feeding to Jesse earlier. Jesse happily grabbed the one empty drink cup, heading over to the fountain drink dispenser to fill it up with lemon-lime soda before slapping a lid on it and taking a straw with him for good measure. He sat down across from Gabriel, who was taking a bite from his burger while looking down at the seven cards arranged before him, and then quickly dragged his chair over, basically shoulder to shoulder with Gabe as he looked at the cards. The space was tiny but Gabriel only seemed mildly annoyed as Jesse grabbed his own burger and started to unwrap one side before taking a bite.

Despite the machine looking like it was manufactured in the 1970’s, the cards were printed on high quality cardstock, vivid colors, and high quality finish that shouldn’t even be possible for machines that old. Maybe it was designed that way on purpose - ‘hiding in plain sight’ kind of deal. 

“So, what’s my fortune say in these cards, Gabe?” Jesse asked after swallowing the chunk he was chewing on.

Gabriel took a slurp from his drinking straw before setting the cup down. “Well, the cards give you a basic read out on your hypothetical statistics as a hero and some old schoolers believe that the order the cards are printed can foretell your career but it’s honestly complete bullshit, if you ask me. The order is always random when it prints the cards.” He hand waved dismissively. “But, anyways, your ‘energy’ is aligned more to mild chaos but very much heroic in nature. It means that the card predicts you’ll be more impulsive in battle, which can lead to chaos in battle, especially when dealing with civilians, team mates or even property damage.” Gabriel slides the card over to Jesse, even though the symbols and shit looked completely alien to him.

“So, what’s that mean? Like in general?” Jesse asked curiously as he wiped the grease off his hands with a napkin before picking up the beautiful card.

“It’s a ‘mild’ rating. It just might mean I’ll have to make sure that the basics are ingrained into you and teach you how to deal with that need to shoot from the hip - make it a trump card rather than how you always deal with difficult situations. Chaos is good when you have all you need to control the final outcome. Does that make sense?” 

Jesse nodded his head in understanding. “I honestly thought chaos was solely a flaw.” He admitted before pulling out his wallet to tuck the card away safely, setting it down between his legs instead of on the counter or in his pocket since he assumed Gabe would eventually give him the other six too.

Gabriel smirked in amusement at that as he reached to grab two fries from his box. “That’s exactly what makes certain heroes terrifying for the bad guys to deal with. Chaos is the spice of a superhero and villain alike, when used in moderation, to make it hard to make a plan that is guaranteed to take down a hero.” He remarked. “I actually have a low chaos rating but a higher intelligence to make sure I always keep impulse desires in the back of my mind when planning a strategy. Always assume that every petty thief knows your weaknesses and always have a backup plan unless you want to die early in your career.”

Jesse swallowed down his fries like they were lumps of rocks when Gabriel brought up the topic of death. “I’ll definitely take this all serious, Gabe.” He reaffirmed strongly, drawing an amused chuckle from Gabriel.

“Oh, believe me, I have no intention of taking you out on patrol until I’m certain you’re ready for this.” Gabriel smirked before looking down at the cards again. “High charisma scores are always a good thing, especially when paired with a good intelligence score like it says you have here. It means you can bullshit your way out of situations or getting people to believe something that you genuinely believe in since it’s always good to have a hero who can talk people down - and not just bad guys either…” He remarked somberly, as if remembering a depressing memory before shaking his head and passing Jesse the two cards after wiping off his hands. “Sometimes you can’t always save someone.”

Jesse felt the weight of those words as Gabriel murmured them. Being a hero did mean that not everyone could be saved, the people would hate you for not saving someone they loved dearly and also watching those you work with die as well. Being a hero meant taking on that weight on your shoulder and not letting it crush you. Jesse wondered if Gabriel ever had nightmares due to his job or if it was easier just to be a monster-hunting specialist since everyone was always happy those abominations were killed. He took the two cards and pulled out his wallet again to tuck them safely away.

“The next three are similarly chained together; ‘Resources’, ‘Companionship’, and ‘Loyalty to the Cause’. Your resources score usually takes into account of family fortune, your job, and other financial assets but it honestly doesn’t prevent a pauper from becoming an S-Ranked hero. Your score is ‘unknown’ simply because I’m your caretaker but there’s always the chance we go our separate ways and I will not provide for you anymore. ‘Unknown’ isn’t an ill omen but a usually a grade all apprentice heroes receive more than not unless their mentor is a family member, a sworn guardian, or they have a higher financial holding than their mentor and usually they get a rating in the case.” He explains as he passes the ‘Resources’ card to Jesse.

“Next is ‘Companionship’ and ‘Loyalty to the Cause’ since they go hand in hand together, usually. You’ll make a good companion right off the bat since you took on apprenticeship with a lower ranked hero and I don’t really see anyone with a high charisma score ending up an outsider in the community unless you really manage to fuck up somewhere along the line.” Gabriel spoke with a hint of amusement before his eyes settled on the ‘Loyalty to the Cause’ card. “Your loyalty will always be questioned. You serve others before serving the order and would easily abandon those who do not align with you but only after putting in effort to mend broken bridges.” He remarked rather emotionlessly before adding: “Could always be worse though.” 

“Yeah? And what’s the last card?” Jesse asked, not wanting to go into how accurate or not the ‘Loyalty’ card was when they were out here in public.

“It mostly talks about your hidden potential but we already know right off the bat what it is. ‘Unnaturally high accuracy with unusual weapon’, a.k.a. the ‘Deadeye’.” Gabriel passed him the card and he saw an almost cartoonish outline of a cowboy’s head, hat and all, with one ‘x’ over his eye. “Also, it thinks you should be a cowboy but that’s your honest choice for aesthetics if your power isn’t tied to an outfit, like mine.”

Jesse nodded his head as he looked at all seven cards neatly placed in his wallet, admiring the way they were slotted together before leaning forward to tuck his wallet into his back pocket. Him and Gabriel ate in general relaxation after that talk, chatting quietly once and awhile before they finished up their meal then heading home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the lovely comments on the previous chapter. I'm very excited that you guys are enjoying the concept as much as I am! Please leave a review of what you think to further inspire me to write more!
> 
> Edit: You can see up Death Blossom's skirt but you physically have to be there. Any sort of reflection, recording (digital or film), even live tv broadcastings, etc. will always playback/show his skirt in the perfect position to block the 'panty' shot. Your physical eyeballs are the only way to actually see what is under the skirt. 
> 
> just wanted to point that useless bit of detail out. lol


	3. Watch and learn

The next giant monster attack happened when Gabriel and Jesse were walking together to pick up some groceries and meet up with Soldier: 76 after lunch when a huge, flying harpy dive bombed into traffic, cars flying into the air into nearby buildings, the sidewalk and more as it made its landing. The harpy had beautiful blue wings and one eye in the center of its head before it threw head back and let out a screech that shattered the windows from the buildings in its immediate vicinity. Gabriel quickly reached up and flipped his commlink on, a ‘hero’ beacon being sent out to alert the comms of nearby monster hunters from the activation of the specific commlink he had on his persons at all times.

“This is ‘Death Blossom’! F-City, Blocks 245, Intersection 2-A43 is under attack by a fifteen foot flying beast, classification is unknown! Engaging hostile!” Gabriel yelled as a the panicking civilian population was running from their lives, flooding out from the buildings, cars, and business to dart to the nearest underground shelter, practically stampeding away and almost knocking both him and Jesse over in the process. He then reached to pull down his sleeve revealing his CommuniGate device and quickly typing a code in to switch the screen into ‘data collection mode’ before sliding his sleeve back down.

The mode would allow for him to be tracked and gain credit points for this battle, basically making him the first on the scene and gave him a bonus multiplier on his contribution to the battle, as minor as it is considering the collaborative effort that goes into these fights. 

Once Gabriel didn’t have to worry about being knocked over, he materialized his signature shotgun into his hand and held it up into the air. The gunshot that followed began the transformation process - Pink and black ribbons pouring out from the barrel instead of pellets, the gun itself breaking up into blinding light that forced Jesse to look away lest his he go blind from how intense the light was that engulfed his mentor. The light quickly faded and Jesse cautiously looked back at Gabriel to see him standing proudly in his outfit, skirts and all.

The emergency broadcast system sent out city-wide alerts right after as the harpy stomped forward, stepping over cars after shaking off the one it landed on got stuck on its foot, blood soaking the feathers and talons as Jesse did his best to not try to see where the car landed after it was kicked off somewhere. “What ya want me to do, Gabe? Just stay back and wait for a shot?” Jesse asked after Gabriel finished talking to someone on his commlink. A white mask looked back at Jesse as Gabriel nodded his head and aimed a hologram of the nearby surrounding block where McCree could see it as several different colored dots appeared to be honing in on their location with two pink dots staying stationary near the huge red dot, likely marking both of them.

“We have two anti-air heroes heading to our location and one of them is a flyer, Jesse. I’ve seen how well you do in the hero gun range but you’ve only officially been my apprentice for two days and you can guess that makes several heroes uneasy about having you around, much less taking a shot at this bird friend of ours.” Gabriel explained before Misteel Blue came into view in the sky, her falcon mech outfit a sight for both of their sore eyes her rocket engine making her appear to dance in the sky. Misteel Blue was apparently a few years younger than Jesse but was already a veteran hero in her own right, a proud A-Rank that F-City loved and adored. “It's going to suck, Jesse. I’m not going to lie. I might know these heroes but I’m only a C-Rank and it’s well known that apprentices to monster hunters do not get to engage in team hunts this early in their career. If Widowmaker and Misteel Blue need the back up, I’ll recommend your Deadeye but I DO want you to watch the battle and take notes from the Safe Zone, alright? Cops can’t arrest you since you’re officially an apprentice but stay humble if they don’t believe you.”

Jesse chewed on the inside of his cheek and nodded his head. He was going to have to learn the ropes by observation for a bit and do some street patrol with Gabe before he could really get these people to see he wouldn’t be a burden in a fight, as much as he hated the idea of standing around. Deadeye was a very powerful tool but Gabriel was the one working with him on trying to reformat his entire thought process when it came to shooting, especially when against giant monsters and he had to admit he didn’t quite feel comfortable practicing several trial methods when he could easily accidentally shoot someone while the heroes were coordinating amongst themselves without Jesse being aware of what was going on.

“Right. I’ll stay safe if you stay safe, Gabe.” Jesse grinned as he playfully flicked the brim of his hat upwards before turning to head off to the nearest Safe Zone after pulling his phone out of his pocket to pull up the app.

-

Gabriel rolled his eyes as his apprentice dashed off after that flirty little ‘good luck’ he gave him but quickly turned his attention to his CommuniGate hologram and listened as more heroes joined the channel on his commlink in his ear. Other than him, and Misteel Blue; Soldier Seventy-Six, Crusader and Widowmaker were making their way to the scene right now with Widowmaker likely to appear within the next few minutes unlike the other two.

He tapped the device on his ear flicked it to the ‘lock’ position so he wouldn’t have to hold down on the ‘call’ button to be heard while he tried to juggle two shotguns in his hands. “MB, status.”

“All green, DB.” Misteel Blue, Fareeha Amari, responded as she went from building top to building top to conserve energy to propel her combat armor gathering intel on the monster from above. “Was that Jesse McCree I saw you talking to?” She asked curiously as captured pictures on her HUD to send them to Gabriel through her CommuniGate since he excelled at tactics and organizing heroes whenever he was on the scene. 

“Yes. New apprentice hero.” Gabriel replied evenly as he looked at the pictures Fareeha sent him of the harpy's back and noted the several off-colored flesh holes lining its back, likely a defensive measure that excreted gas or poison if attacked from above or behind… “You know him?”

“Yeah, hangs out at my mom’s bar a lot and I talk to him. Seems like a nice guy.” She commented lightly, the monster still mostly wandering about the intersection since no one was attacking it to make it go wild so she stayed at a safe distance to observe its behaviors. “Heard he failed to make the cut several times to become a hero.”

“Not a problem anymore.” 

The channels pinged in Gabriel’s ear, indicating another hero had joined in on the conversation. 

“Widowmaker here.” An accented woman’s voice piped in before a deep male voice spoke up right after.

“Crusader online!” 

Okay, he could work with the people he had now-

“Soldier Seventy-Six reporting for duty!” A gravelly male voice interrupted his train of thought (typical Jack) before he quickly calculated the new arrival on the scene.

“Alright, we got ourselves a fifteen foot flyer here that may or may not have built-in defense mechanisms along its spine along with the usual talons and loud ass voice that might knock us on our asses. Widow and MB will be on air supremacy duty in case it tries fleeing upwards, Crusader will shield Seventy-Six as he lays down cover fire, focusing on taking out its leg and those talons, and I’ll play decoy like usual. That sound fine for everyone?” Gabriel asked, generally knowing everyone’s preferences and limitations at this point in his career as a monster hunter. Only he and Reinhardt were the ones on site that didn’t have ammunition as limitations but Gabriel could easily drain himself of stamina by overusing his shotguns and powers so it would be more of a dance of juggling the harpy’s attention back and forth between him and Jack while Widow took shots when she felt like they would have big impact outside of air supremacy.

“Roger!” They all replied.

\--

Jesse grumbled as he sat down at Gabriel’s table, a fork full of delicious cooked meat in one hand and a tablet under his other hand while Gabriel sat across from him, eating dinner at his own pace. They came back to Gabriel’s luxurious apartment after the fight, Gabriel using some of the ingredients they bought at the supermarket earlier to cook them up some dinner while Jesse was forced to do a write up on the fight. He was so hungry after that exciting fight and Gabe was making him WORK for his meal as if taking notes from a distance wasn’t dangerous enough with that fucking harpy shooting acid everywhere.

Oh, right! The acid! 

Jesse picked up his pocket-size notebook he used to write down his thoughts, and Gabriel’s comments to him during the fight (which was super awesome btw!) and started flipping to the segment where he had notes on the acid. He started typing away on the holo keyboard in front of his fingers, the tablet now propped up on a proper stand after Gabe got up and retrieved it from his remote office in his apartment, growing tired of Jesse staring down at the table as he typed. The nice thing about the holo keyboard was that he could overlay it above his plate and then pick up his fork to eat a bite as he gathered his thoughts for his next few sentences. Fuck yes for multitasking!

“How much should I write on the acid, Gabe?” Jesse asked curiously as he plunged his fork into the diced pork with Gabriel’s own special pepper sauce that he refused to give Jesse the recipe for.

“Well, how critical was the acid in the fight for both us fighting the harpy and the harpy using it? What were the pluses and negatives of dealing with the harpy as it shot out acid?” Gabriel clarified with ease as he poked his fork into the marinated potato wedge and brought it to his mouth to bite off one end. 

Jesse nodded his head before glancing back down to start rapidly typing on the keyboard and putting down at least three paragraphs towards the topic of acid usage in the fight. He included the effects of the acid on different materials from cars and pavement to how quickly he estimated it took to melt down Crusader’s shield the one time it did hit it. All of these observations were critical for heroes to survive in open combat and it was through taking notes that McCree became more aware of just how truly dangerous these fights were for the heroes fighting the giant monsters. Also it explained why property insurance was so fucking high in F-City near major highways/intersections cause holy shit the estimated damage total for this fight was huge even when the heroes quickly took it down soon after it started spewing shit everywhere.

“I appreciate ya tryin’ to make me smarter, Gabe, I doubt I would have thought of any of these things if I was a hero right out of the start gates by myself.” Jesse chuckled in amusement as he picked up his knife and fork again to cut his potato wedges in half.  
“It’s the first brick wall any hero runs into right out of the starting gate if they choose to go down the path of a monster hunter; the lack of any specialized training, especially if you haven’t lived in F-City your whole life. It’s why mentorship is so important for veteran monster hunters if we want to drop the high injury/mortality rates of newcomers.” Gabriel spoke solemnly as he picked up his spoon to scoop some garnished rice to his mouth before swallowing at picking up his glass of wine to sip.

Jesse paused at that as he looked up at Gabriel with a quirked brow. “It’s actually high? I ain’t never read anything like that before.”

“It would look pretty bad if those statistic were public, huh?” Gabriel huffed sarcastically and Jesse frowned at the implication, making Gabriel reconsider the way he worded that impulsive remark. “Okay. Injuries are higher than fatalities but being hospitalized after your first fight against a monster makes people reconsider the profession real quick, if you get what I’m saying. Most teams will not coordinate with a newcomer because it's overwhelming trying to explain things to green newbies who think they can kill monsters with one punch or some shit or don’t get how certain monster hunters fight. Getting hurt BY a monster hunter is actually more likely than the actual monster hurting newbies because accidents happen all the time like say a monster falling on the newbie, who failed to alert the team to their location when a blow was struck.” He explained more thoroughly and Jesse’s eyes widened at that as he nodded his head in understanding.

“Sounds rough not havin’ a mentor ta help out the newbies…” Jesse mumbled, sounding rather crestfallen from the news as he lightly poked at a potato wedge with his fork.

“The world needs more heroes, McCree. People generally understand that on a basic level that being a hero is probably as dangerous as being a highly specialized police officer but the glory is what tends to attract people anyways. Glory and money.” Gabriel added, sympathizing with Jesse. “Think about it this way, maybe if we get you to the point where you’re a hero in your own right, you can take on an apprentice and pass on the combined knowledge you gain from both experience and from working under me as an apprentice. I’m hoping that by taking you on as an apprentice, it might give some of the other heroes I work with here in F-City to take on apprentices of their own.” He spoke fondly with a warm smile that helped pick up Jesse’s spirits considerably. 

“Ya really think I would be a good mentor?”

“It might take a decade of working as a monster hunter but if you really apply yourself then maybe it’s possible.” Gabriel chuckled lightly, making Jesse frown slightly at that.

“Ya don’t think I could really do it, huh…”

Gabriel tilted his head slightly to the side as he looked at McCree with a perplexed expression. “I never meant to imply that it was impossible or that I was looking down on you, Jesse. Only time will really tell if you really want to keep being a hero long enough to become a mentor to a budding hero. Some people… find themselves ‘lacking’ when they reach that point where they could mentor but ultimately believe that they will end up leading some bright-eyed hero to their grave regardless of their good intentions.” Gabriel spoke solemnly. “I’m hoping that taking on a second apprentice will show these heroes that the risk of loss is well worth the price of bringing a kindred soul to your side and helping them become the hero they always wanted to be.”

Jesse’s eyes widened at that and felt like he understood Gabriel more as a person with that last bit he added. Did he ever lose an apprentice before? Has he watched a hero close to him lose an apprentice? It made him admire Gabriel Reyes that much more, looking up after he felt his mentor’s foot lightly rub against his ankle since neither of them wore shoes in the house.

“You alright? You spaced out there for a moment.” Gabriel spoke as he looked at Jesse with concern. Jesse felt himself smile as his face warmed up from the contact and how touched he was that this wonderful man genuinely cared about his wellbeing.

“I’m good. Just can’t stop thinkin’ bout how handsome ya are.” Jesse playfully winked in Gabriel’s direction, his grin growing larger as Gabriel lightly kicked his foot in response.

“Behave now, McCree. I’ll consider letting you sleep in my bed, and only sleep in my bed, with me if your write up is good.” Gabriel teased him playfully in return before he went back to eating his dinner.

Jesse was more energized than he was before to get working on his report, only taking a break every few paragraphs to eat some more of his dinner as a reward. Gabriel finished his dinner and cleaned up the kitchen well before Jesse finished his own dinner, sitting on the couch and watching some TV to relax while McCree kept chipping away at his report. Sure, it wasn’t sex or even a kiss on the lips like he wanted but sleeping in that man’s comfortable ass looking bed with said handsome man was more than enough to really get the ball rolling. The words seemed to easily translate from Jesse’s personal experience to words and flowed better than any paper he wrote in high school even if he happened to enjoy the topic the paper was on! He kept on writing even after his plate was completely cleaned off, only taking a break to wash his own dishes when Gabriel asked him to do so around eight o’clock pm.

Jesse was eager to email the document to Gabriel at exactly nine thirty and got up from his chair to start stretching his stiff body out after hitting the ‘send’ key. “All done!” He happily announced, stretching his arm behind his head as he walked about the room to shake the stiffness out of his legs while Gabriel turned on the couch to face him with a pleased smile on his face.

“Not bad, McCree. Looks like I underestimated your ability to focus on a writing task.” Gabriel playfully teased as he got up and turned off the TV, walking over to Jesse to pat him on the shoulder. “Today has been a long day so I think I’m going to turn in early. I have an extra toothbrush you can use in the bathroom.” He offered, watching as Jesse was smiling excitedly from ear to ear in response.

Gabriel was in bed after he finished brushing his teeth, dressed in ‘Death Blossom’ themed black PJs with red roses and skulls all over as he was resting his back against the headboard and slowly scrolling through what was likely Jesse’s write up on the battle on a small holo screen in front of him. Jesse was simply wearing his ‘yeehaw’ cowboy boxers as he finished washing up, instantly feeling like he was a bit too forward wearing only his boxers when he saw Gabriel in PJs and hesitantly approached the bed on Gabriel’s side.

“Um… Is this okay?” Jesse asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as Gabriel glanced up at him from the document.

“Yeah. Get in.” Gabriel smirked up at Jesse in amusement as he pulled the covers over on the other side of the king sized bed before patting it welcomely.

Jesse’s hesitation was gone in an instant as he leapt over Gabriel and slid under the covers in excitement instead of walking around to the other end like a normal person would. Gabriel fortunately laughed at Jesse’s behavior, whisking the holo screen away before leaning over to turn off the projector and the light beside the bed. Jesse felt his heart racing as he was facing Gabriel, nuzzling the side of his beard into the fluffy pillow he was resting his head on while Gabriel slipped under the covers with a content sigh. 

“Can we spoon, Gabe?” Jesse asked bravely, still feeling his heart race as he wanted to get closer to the man he admired now that they were in his bed.

“Eh. Fine. No feeling me up though.” Gabriel answered simply before letting out a long yawn, still facing away from McCree.

Jesse slid his pillow over to close the gap between them, pressing himself up against Gabriel’s back and lightly draping an arm over the man’s waist as he snuggled up to him. Gabriel hummed in a pleased manner at that, making McCree feel like he was on cloud nine just having this chance with Gabriel. He was pretty sure the battle today drained Gabriel because he was out like a light soon after, snoring lightly in the darkness of the bedroom. It made him smile to know that Gabriel probably forced himself to stay awake up until Jesse was finished with his report just so he could personally make good on the reward. Jesse McCree had the best mentor in the business, he was sure of it! He drifted off not too long afterwards, Gabriel’s breathing easing him into a restful sleep where he dreamed of both of them fighting alongside one another as equals.


	4. my idol

Okay. Jesse McCree knew that Gabriel Reyes ran a modeling company but he didn’t expect to see Gabriel’s apartment filled with fashion designers from all over the world when he woke up, much less be dragged out to stand on a modeling stand in the middle of the living room in high cowboy boxers! His face was flushed bright red and he was internally screaming as Gabriel was in the fucking kitchen and fixing them both breakfast in his Death Blossom PJs still, acting like they were just family members or something and not world-class fashion designers like, holy shit, does he not have to worry about his identity getting blown by these ten designers in the room?!

They all had canvas drawing boards set up around him in a circle, the couch shoved up against the wall to allow for more space to be used by the designers while they sketched away like he was a volunteer model for an art club. He wasn’t sure what pose he should hold or for how long but no one seemed to say anything when he moved his arms or legs occasionally, they just continued to sketch away before getting up with their canvases to trade spots with another designer wordlessly, probably for a new angle or something. Other than that, he could hear the sizzling of the frying pan and the classical music being played in the kitchen while the whole thing was going on.

“Mister McCree.”

Jesse flinched as he heard one of the designers speak up, snapping his head in that person’s direction when he saw an asian man with long black hair pulled back in a low ponytail and courting a stern expression on his face.

“Y-Yeah? How can I help ya, Partner?” Jesse asked sheepishly, his eyes glancing over to Gabriel’s for reassurance as his mentor paused to glance over at the drawing circle.

“What is your inspiration to be a hero?” The designer asked calmly, noticing how nervous Jesse seemed to be when asked a question.

“‘I-Inspiration’?” He parroted blankly.

“Yes, was anyone in your family a hero to you? Perhaps a police officer or a member of the military?” The man explained, trying to coax more information out of McCree as two designers switched locations while they spoke. “Perhaps, there was an older hero who inspired you to action, if not a family member?”

Jesse frowned as he thought about it. “Not really. My folks were just your average civilians holdin’ office jobs and the like. If anyone else in my family is a hero then I ain’t ever heard of it till now.” He replied honestly as he brought up a hand to rub the back of his neck. “Lone Star was kind of an idol to me when I was young, if that’s what you mean?”

The designer quirked a brow at that. “‘Lone Star’?”

“Yeah! ‘Lone Star’ was a sharp-shootin’ ace who rode his horse ‘Blue Moon’ inta battle here in F-City a long time ago! He wasn’t exactly the most successful hero at the time but he always nailed his shots when he was in a pinch, even if the monsters that he fought weren’t anythin’ to write home about! I saw ‘im on the Holo a lot when I was a small kid and even own all of the limited production toys that were managed to be released fer him!” Jesse enthusiastically explained to the man, his face burning hotter than the sun when he heard a soft chuckle come from the direction of the kitchen when he turned to see Gabriel smiling at him.

“‘Lone Star’? That’s a name that predates even Crusader’s entry into the monster hunting business and he’s been in for a very long time. They must have been running reruns of old monster attack vids in other cities if you happened to watch them when he was in his prime. I’m pretty sure he retired at least thirty years ago from the business.” Gabriel remarked as he dished the scrambled eggs in the pan to two plates. “I knew there had to be a reason for the cowboy aesthetic you have going on, other than the southern charm.”

Jesse’s cheeks puffed up childishly at that as he glared at his mentor. “What about you then, Gabe? What’s with the magical girl shtick ya got goin’ then?”

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders at that as he added some olive oil to the pan to start cooking up some small beef chunks. “Some higher beings like to stick to the aesthetics that they’ve always known and I was basically told ‘tough shit’ when I complained about the outfit. They DID grant me cosmetic makeovers during the years to tailor it more to my liking and fighting style but the base premise still remains the same: I have to fight evil in a skirt.”

Jesse was in awe at how easily Gabriel explained the outfit origin, now finally understanding why there were several variations of Death Blossom’s outfit, including a PINK variation, available for purchasing when it came to various merchandise from around the world. He made a quick mental note to buy the pink variation of the statute from Japan when he got home this evening to go with the black one he had already.

“So, your favorite hero was ‘Lone Star’ and you enjoy a ‘cowboy’ aesthetic?” The designer asked as he looked over at McCree and Jesse bashfully found himself nodding in agreement.

“Y-Yeah… Though I kind of want to look good next ta Death Blossom if we’re gonna be seen together a lot.” Jesse mumbled as he twiddled his index fingers together sheepishly.

“You sure about that, Jesse? It might be harder for you to be seen as a hero in your own right one day if our outfits match up to some degree.” Gabriel advised him as he put the lid on the frying pan. “Also, you never know if I might one day have a falling out with the heroes or the organization itself and your outfit will be a constant reminder that you were once my apprentice. It could end up being really bad for you.” He spoke before bringing a hand up to scratch at his beard in thought. “Though, maybe if there were low-key accessories or parts of the costume you could swap out, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…”

“I want that then!” Jesse declared happily before looking back at the fashion designer he was speaking to the entire time. “I want parts of the costume to easily be swapped out like a cape or somethin’!”

The designer looked at Jesse uncertainly. “A cape would not work well for a Wild West aesthetic…”

“Well, then, I expect ya’ll fashion geniuses to find somethin’ that will work! I believe in yer abilities to make me look like a hero children will look up to like the hero in a spaghetti western!” Jesse confidently declared, the frown on the designer’s face not easing up one bit before he nodded his head.

“It will be a challenge but I am confident I could make something appeasing to your heroic spirit.” The man remarked professionally.

“What’s yer name, Partner?” 

“Hanzo Shimada of Shimada Fashions.” Hanzo informed him before another person poked his head out behind his own canvas with neon green hair.

“My name is Genji Shimada! I’m his brother! Please look forward to our submissions!” Genji happily declared, making the other designers around them both grumble in annoyance. 

Yeesh. Tough crowd…

After everyone was done, and each designer taking time to talk to Jesse about their own questions before handing him their cards, he sat down at the table with Gabriel seated next to him as they ate their breakfast together. The ten business cards laid on the table in front of them both as Jesse stuffed himself full of delicious eggs, veggies, and meat that Gabriel mixed into the omelet. 

“Kind of wished ya warned me about those guys comin’ in, Gabe. It was a dick move.” Jesse huffed lightly before picking up his glass of milk and chugging it back.

“Sorry, you’re right, but they were going to come in anyways to see the models so I threw the commission out there if any of the designers were interested and ten of them wanted in.” Gabriel remarked as he poked his fork into the meat and ate it. 

Jesse scowled at Gabriel as he set his glass back down on the table. “Ain’t that kind of dangerous though? Now they know yer Death Blossom and that I’m yer apprentice…”

Gabriel smirked in amusement at that as he regarded Jesse’s concern. “Top fashion companies are always in the back pockets of any well-known hero, McCree. Those business cards aren’t for me but are for you.”

Jesse’s eyes were wide in surprise as he looked back at the business cards at the table with many fashion companies that did super high-end designs that Jesse couldn’t even hope to afford before looking back at Gabriel. “What the hell! I can’t afford any of this shit!” He spouted as he gestured to the fancy-looking business cards.

“Oh, believe me, even the snootiest, top-of-the-line fashion designer out there will BEG a B-class hero to let them design their outfit because their designs will undoubtedly will make a mark in history, especially if that hero climbs their way to the top or become a niche hero. Even C-class heroes will have fashion designers throwing themselves at their feet and even dart out of super important fashion shows without a thought to repair their hero’s outfit for free, regardless of the cost to get them there. A hero showing up in the news ALWAYS leads to people searching for who designed the outfits and many TV stations even run shows dedicated to hero fashion designs! It’s the best advertisement you can get on this planet.” Gabriel explained thoroughly for Jesse with an amused smile. “What better way to showcase your vision and creativity than to put it on a hero?”

Jesse was highly skeptical of the whole package Gabriel was trying to sell him and quirked a brow at that when his mentor finished speaking. “But, I’m just an apprentice to a C-class hero.” He pointed out with a deadpanned expression.

“C-class hero who has a permanent slot in C-class AND is in a special class for financial contributors that isn’t listed anywhere officially ON TOP of mentoring two heroes, one who is currently in B-class!” Gabriel countered with an annoyed scowl. “Yes, McCree, they want to be on your good side because the results show that I know what I’m doing and that they feel confident that you’ll be able to shine on your own if I train you well.” He explained before reaching out to tap the business cards on the table with his index finger for emphasis. “When we get the first round designs in and the estimates that will come with it for materials and outfit maintence then you’ll start to see how serious these companies are about seeing you succeed as a hero.”

Jesse was still skeptical about the whole thing but nodded his head since he didn’t want to argue with Gabriel about it. Top fashion designers in the world just dropping on their hands and knees for a part-time hero/trucker? Of course it would be difficult to assume the whole thing wasn’t some elaborate prank for a tv show or something. No one gave a flying fuck about him until Gabriel took him under his wing and even then he didn’t expect anything special until he was at least a seasoned veteran in his own right. Why invest so heavily in a guy who wasn’t even sure if he would make it through the apprenticeship period, much less become an actual hero? Just because his mentor was a big deal, somewhat? Even dreams weren’t this far-fetched!

“Alright. Anyways, I got work today so I can’t stick around too long.” Jesse remarked casually as he continued to eat the delicious meal Gabriel provided for him. 

“That’s fine. You got a good sleep last night?” Gabriel asked as he looked over at Jesse curiously, making McCree smile warmly at remembering how nice it was to sleep in such a luxurious bed with a handsome man.

“Yep! Ain’t nothin’ gonna slow me down today, Partner!” Jesse playfully flexed his arms for Gabriel, enjoying the grin that his mentor gave him in response.

“Good. I slept really well too.” Gabriel remarked as he finished off his plate and his glass of orange juice before getting up, leaving McCree smiling at the implication of him saying that.

“Oh? You sayin’ we can make this a habit?” McCree asked suggestively as he watched Gabriel get up, eyeing the curves of his hips while the man moved around the table to go to the kitchen. 

Gabriel smirked back at him in amusement before turning to place the dishes into the already filled up sink tub. “Down, Boy.” He teasingly chastised McCree, not even moving when McCree got up with his empty plate and pressed himself up against Gabriel’s back as he reached around him to place his own dishes into the sink. His hands then moved to lightly wrap around Gabriel’s waist as he rested his forehead into the back of Gabriel’s neck.

“Maybe someday?” Jesse asked, doing nothing more than holding Gabriel in the moment as he could feel his heart swell at the contact.

“Someday, Jesse. I promise you.” Gabriel reassured him warmly, letting Jesse keep his arms around his waist as he hand washed the dishes before rinsing them off and setting them to dry on the drying rack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter! I've been working on other stuff but I'll get working on the next chapter since I need to catch up on it! Please leave a review if you are enjoying it!


	5. Meeting 76

One thing Jesse found amusing with his time with Gabriel was on their off days was that heroes that worked with him on the field had a tendency to show up at his apartment. It was no big surprise that Soldier Seventy-Six, being Gabriel’s former apprentice, was the one who showed up more frequently, especially since Gabriel took another apprentice under his wing. The silver-haired man and Gabriel were sitting at the table together after Gabriel let Jesse into his apartment, Jesse a bit star-struck when the man tapped the ear brace on one side of his head to make the rest of the visor come out from camouflage mode. 

“Oh man! Gabe says ya visit him a lot but this is the first time I ever met ya personally, Mister Soldier Seventy-Six!” Jesse offered his hand to the man with a huge smile on his face while Seventy-Six chuckled fondly and shook it in response.

“Just call me ‘Jack’, Jesse.” The man offered after retracting his hand from Jesse’s and reaching up to tap something on his visor to make the red part of the screen disappear, leaving only the mask portion before he tapped a few button to make the material pull apart in the middle to expose his face from the bridge of his nose, down. Now all that was left was the anchors for the mask that remained around his neck, back of the head and alongside his face. 

“I-I couldn’t, Partner! Yer my senior after all!” Jesse waved his hands in front of his bashfully as he felt his face go red in embarrassment.

Jack regarded him with a kind smile as Jesse sat down in a chair at the table. “Just call me Seventy-Six on the battlefield and Jack when we’re in private, alright? I’m more excited about working with you in the upcoming weeks than the other way around, honestly. Gabriel wouldn’t shut his mouth about you when we talk on the phone.” He chuckled in amusement.

Gabriel lightly kicked Jack’s leg under the chair, making Jesse laugh as Jack turned towards Gabe with a shit-eating grin on his face and kicked him back.

“Really though? Gabriel talks about me?” Jesse had to ask, placing his forearms on the table as he leaned forward towards Gabriel across from him with an amused grin. “Darlin’, here I thought ya were embarrassed about our relationship.” He teased playfully, Gabriel shooting him a smile in return.

“Not sure I said anything, much less be embarrassed by it, Jesse.” He spoke with warmth in his voice, making Jesse’s heart swell happily in his chest. God, he could really get used to having a confident and sweet partner in his life like this. His shitty luck really paid off big time where it counted considering how terrible it had been up until that point several months ago when he pulled out Peacekeeper and took out that giant robot’s eye.

Jack seemed to pick on it real quick and rested his chin in his palms as he looked back and forth slowly between them, a proud smile on his face. “Aw.” He cooed happily, making Gabriel smirk as he looked back at his friend.

“Yeah, yeah. Keep this between us, alright, Jackie?” Gabriel chuckled casually as he hand-waved Jack’s teasing. “I want him to be able to stand out on his own merits before we actually start dating.”

Jesse pouted at that, full out pouted as Jack threw his head back and laughed at Jesse’s deflated expression while Gabriel just smiled sweetly. Oh well, just being able to casually sleep in Gabe’s bed with him would be fine for now since he really didn’t expect there to be actual healthy reciprocation between them compared to his old romantic flings. Kissing, hand holding, and the eventual banging could wait if it meant he’d get to be close to Gabriel sooner rather than them awkwardly dancing around each other. Straightforward romances wouldn’t be so bad for once in his life.

“Anyways, guess what came in today, Jesse?” Gabriel grinned, sliding over a huge mailing folder across the table, Jack lifting his coffee cup in perfect sync so it wouldn’t get knocked over in the process and shot an annoyed look at Gabriel as he smirked back knowingly at Jack. 

Jesse ignored the silent argument between the two other heroes as he grabbed the thick mailing folder off the table while he felt himself positively tremble in excitement. He had been waiting for a week for the designs to come in, Gabriel texting him every morning when his mail came in, practically reading Jesse like an open book, to tell him that no designs had come in that day before they did their usual back and forth throughout the day while they both worked.

He opened the package and pulled out several smaller, and professionally bound, magazine-like portfolios, each one branded with the logo of the designer on the front along with their contact details. Jesse eagerly started diving into them, floored by the level of detail and professional design that went into each one of the portfolios as they advertised the outfit the designers proposed, most including detailed breakdown of costs and even fabric samples for Jesse to touch. Some of the designs ranged from classical cowboy to a more cyborg-like cowboy designs from the future that supposedly enhanced his endurance as well with the fibers they proposed he wear over his joints and such, taking his age into account. 

Gabriel was not kidding about how crazily detailed this shit was and was blown away by the creativity of these designers that were desperate to attract his eye to their designs. One of them even leaned super heavily on Lonestar’s blue cowboy motif to try to appeal to Jesse’s nostalgia! He did find himself constantly coming back to the Shimadas’ joint design as he lined up his favorite designs from left to right, not really sure where to place it as he kept looking back and forth while comparing fabric durability since the Japanese brothers even included the resistance factors of the fabrics they chose in their design.

It wasn't too bright, the most outstanding color being the soft rose red of the patterned serape wrapped around his shoulders and trailing behind him. 'like a cape…’ he smiled to himself. The outfit consisted of a plain cream button up shirt, sleeves rolled up to reveal on bare arm ending in a glove with red ruffles, and another armored, decorated by a simple skull. Around the waist was a chocolate brown corset, trimmed with red frills and closed in front by black leather straps. 

Over the corset lay a leather holster belt for his gun, the belt buckle a gleaming skull, with one of it’s eyes crossed out. Moving downwards, it looked like it had tight black jeans under more modernized chaps. They matched the corset very well, but we're held together by red crossed straps on the inner thighs. Honestly the boots were his favorite part of the whole thing. Short black cowboy boots, with studded red leather straps and two inch metal heels that swirled back into deadly looking spurs. 

Finally, atop The drawings head was a brown broad brimmed hat, adorned with silver bullets and the same skull symbol as his belt. 

“You looking at the Shimadas’ design still?” Gabriel asked curiously while Jack sipped on his coffee and watched the proceeding with interest.

“Yeah, the rest of the stuff looks so good and it’s really hard to rank this particular one. It’s got lots of stuff I like about it and touches on a lot of the merits I wanted to have in the outfit…”

Gabriel nodded his head in understanding. “A ‘happy medium’? Doesn’t push the design too much but also doesn’t fall back to heavily on my or Lonestar’s outfit, right?”

“Mhm.” Jesse agreed as he flipped through the Shimadas’ portfolio once more. “It’s upkeep ain’t too expensive but lacks some of the durability the others have.”

Jack set his mug down and placed his elbows on the table before folding his hands together. “Well, as someone who runs into durability issues a lot, I’d say it’s something that can be improved by the designers the more you fight in battle. New materials also becomes available every years so it’s not like you’re stuck with all of that for the rest of your career. I’ve lost more jackets than anyone else due to my recklessness but my designers always try to do something new with the opportunity to replace it by reinforcing the areas that were trashed in the fight. After several years in the scene, my current jacket has lasted four months without falling apart. It’s something to be aware of and to communicate with your design team.” He advised Jesse with a reassuring smile.

“Jack’s got a point, which is why you will critique all of the designers on their designs and see how they respond to it. Those that are hesitant to make adjustments might not be the kinds of designers you want to work with while those who will make changes but also advise you on why certain elements should stay in place with reasonable logic might be the ones you want on your side. Outfits are one of the many factors in keeping heros alive, Jesse. This is your life you’re putting in their hands so you should assume they also have it in their best interests to keep you alive as well.” Gabriel added on. “Also, don’t freak out about doing the critic alone since I brought Jack here to help you do the write ups based on his experience in the field since my outfits are repaired automatically after I rest up.”

“Adding on to what Gabriel said, you’ll probably need to advise a majority of these designers right of the bat that it will be cumbersome to lug around and pull on these outfits in a pinch without revealing your identity. Way too many excessive parts slows down your response time and time is critical when dealing with giant monsters, as we all know.”

Jesse nodded his head at that. “I getcha. I’m more than ready fer the task.”

Gabriel smiled approvingly as he got up from his chair to head over to his home office. “I’ll go get my tablet so you can get started. Be right back.” 

“Alright.” Jesse spoke before getting up from his own chair to walk over to the kitchen and grab a glass from the cabinet to fill with some ice and water from the refrigerator dispenser. Jack followed him over to refill his coffee cup, staring at Jesse for a few moments as he poured the coffee from the pot into his cup. “What?” Jesse asked casually as he filled his glass with ice.

“Hm? Oh, I’m sorry for staring.” Jack apologized sheepishly as he set the coffee pot down. “It’s just nice that Gabriel found someone he both likes and wants to train to be a hero.”

Jesse felt himself smile bashfully as his cheeks warmed up under that while he moved to press the glass in his hand to the lever that activated the water dispenser. “It’s okay. I’m just more surprised that this isn’t just some fever dream I’m havin’, is all.”

Jack chuckled warmly at that as he turned and leaned back against the counter, looking down at his coffee. “I know the feeling. Being a no one with a useless talent then all of a sudden some handsome jackass in a skirt thinks he see’s something in you and makes you his sidekick.” He sighs nostalgically, looking over at Jesse with an honest smile. 

Jesse feels warmth in his chest from how similar their origins were and how Jack was extending an olive branch to him with that bit of knowledge. “Glad to know I’m not alone in this as I thought.”

“Nope.” Jack answered simply. “But, you can’t discount the power networking here, which is what Gabriel is doing right now. I can see why he’s so fond of you though.”

Jesse tensed nervously at that as he bashfully twiddled his index fingers together. “W-why do ya say that?” Is it because he’s handsome? A hard worker (when motivated)? Has a nice body for his age?!

“Deadeye compliments Gabriel’s abilities rather well, especially since it’s a highly accurate ranged attack. Pretty much similar to my ‘tactical visor’, as it’s now referred to, way back when he brought me on board as an apprentice as well.” Jack responded, making Jesse realize that, yeah, their powers ARE rather similar when melted down like that. It was kind of flattering to hear a high B-rank hero tell him that since it really helped reassure Jesse that maybe he does have the potential to set out on his own after his apprenticeship with Gabriel was over.

Jesse brought his hand up to rub the back of his other hand holding the glass of ice as it filled slowly with water. “Well, we haven’t exactly tried using Deadeye to its full ability.”

Jack looked a bit surprised at that before realization hit him and he nodded his head. “Oh, right. Gabe and I didn’t even touch ‘Rapid Flux’ until at least two months into our mentorship. He’s a lot more thorough with getting all the set pieces lined up before he does more than just has you keep up your general aiming abilities at the firing range.”

Jesse finished filling his glass and walked over to where Jack was leaning against the counter to join him. It was there that Jesse noticed they were both roughly around the same height as one another and had a similar build as well. It made Jesse comedically wonder if Gabriel just had a ‘type’ when it comes to guys he finds attractive before bringing the glass to his lips to take a sip of the water. “You happen to have a personal number I could send ya some texts about this whole apprenticeship hero thing?” He asked easily with a friendly smile, watching as Jack’s lips pulled into one as well with that.

“Sure thing. I wouldn’t mind answering some questions on and off through the day if it helps ground you in the whole process.” Jack chuckled as he reached into his back pocket to pull out his phone, using one hand to unlock it before handing it over to Jesse. “Send your phone a text and I’ll add you later, alright?”

He took the phone from Jack after turning to set his glass down on the marble countertop, going right to the text app and sending himself a text simply stating ‘this is Jack’s number’, feeling his phone rumble in his back pocket a few seconds after hitting ‘send’ and handing the phone back to Jack. “Done.” 

Jack took his phone back and locked the screen before tucking it back into his pocket as Gabriel came out with a rather new-looking tablet, looking rather annoyed as he joined them in the kitchen and handed it to Jesse.

“Fucking thing took longer to boot up and get everything installed then I wanted to. Sorry for keeping you two waiting.” Gabriel apologized before Jack slid over without prompt to let Gabriel in to grab a fresh mug and start filling it with coffee from the pot. Jesse felt a bit envious of their relationship and how Jack just knew what Gabriel’s needs were without him asking. He wanted a relationship with Gabriel on that kind of a level…

“It’s fine. Jesse and I were having fun talking behind your back.” Jack grinned mischievously as he looked over his shoulder at Gabriel, taking a sip from his mug when Gabriel set down the empty coffee pot and rolled his eyes in response.

“Sure thing, Jackass.” Gabriel deadpanned before grinning in return as he turned around to lean back against the counter after sliding over closer to Jesse. 

Jesse felt warmth blossom in his chest from watching the two men joke with each other and especially when Gabriel took a step to slide over so both his and Jesse’s legs were pressed comfortably together. He enjoyed the gesture, especially since Gabriel just did the action without a second thought, wanting to be closer to him without worry of what Jack would think about them. It wasn’t a move that showcased possessiveness but more like a subconscious want on Gabriel’s part to be with him. God, he was falling for Gabe so hard now and it felt so healthy and natural between them too. Jesse’s father would be so proud of him actually finding someone worthwhile in his life like he did with his own husband.

“So, shall we get ta work on these critiques, Jack, now that Gabe brought out the tablet?” Jesse asked, feeling full of energy now to handle the task before him.

Jack looked over from Gabriel to Jesse and nodded his head. “Sure thing. Let’s move over to the couch for this though since we’ll probably be at it for a few hours or so.” He remarked as he pushed his back off the counter and took another sip of his coffee while walking from the kitchen to the living room where the couch was. Jesse carried the tablet under one arm and grabbed his glass off the counter as he and Gabriel followed after him, Gabriel stopping to set down his coffee on the table before gathering up the portfolios on it. He carried them over and laid them out on the coffee table in front of Jack and Jesse while Jesse got the holo tech booted up on the tablet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a link to the finalized outfit McCree will be wearing that I commissioned from the original artist who made the 'maid reaper' MMD model that inspired the fic in the first place! They also helped me out by writing the passage where the outfit is described in detail!
> 
> http://daxdraggon.tumblr.com/post/160758114705/randomdraggon-comissioned-by

**Author's Note:**

> I love writing this fic and really want to hear your thoughts on the premise! Do you think I did a good job of making


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